Eight days in Ireland -- what to see?
 

We are traveling to Ireland in early March on a Sceptre Tours fly-and-drive package. Our hotels and itinerary were set by the travel agent. But I'm unsure of what to stop and see along the way and am hoping you can help. We're in our early 60s; my husband is a college professor and I'm a retired journalist. We like art, hand-made pottery, music and beautiful scenery.

I've been to some of these places before (on an organized tour), but my husband hasn't, and we're hoping you can recommend interesting places that a guided tour would have passed by.

We land in Dublin and drive the first day to Kilkenny. We're supposed to go to Waterford that day and see the crystal factory, but I think we're going to skip that: We'll be jet-lagged, I've seen it before and don't think it's worth a second trip.

We spend a night in Kilkenny and continue the next day to Killarney. On the following day we take a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry before spending a second night in Killarney.

Then we drive up to the Cliffs of Moher and on to Galway, where we spend two nights. I read a suggestion on a travel board to take the Tarbert-Killimer ferry, which would allow us to avoid Limerick, and that sounds good to me (as well as more scenic by far).

After the second night in Galway we go back to Dublin and spend two nights there.

Any suggestions? We'll have a free day in Galway: Should we spend it driving up to Connemara, or should we stay in and around Galway.

Any help you can give me would be great.

If you plan to take the Tarbert-Killimer ferry (as we did), you can easily drive to Kilkee along the N67. Instead of fighting the hordes and dealing with all the concrete at the Cliffs of Moher, we went to Kilkee and saw some fabulous cliffs "up close and personal". We did a nice walk on the path along the cliffs and saw only 3 moms with their babies strollers out for some fresh air. It was great having the area almost completely to ourselves. Oh, and there's no charge to see the cliffs here either. If you have time, you can drive down to Loop Head for more spectacular cliff views.

If you want to see the cliffs and take a walk, drive down to the Diamond Rocks cafe (where the statue of a young Richard Harris is located), park your car and start walking.

As for your time in Galway, I would take the ferry to Inishmore for a day trip. The island itself is quite scenic (loved the farms!) and the ancient forts and monastic ruins are well worth seeing. (Dun Aengus is a must.) You can get around the island by minibus, pony cart or bicycle, which is how we did it--great fun.

I thought the Waterford factory closed. We enjoyed the Connemarra region but did not see Galway. Loved Dingle but not overwhelmed with Dublin. Enjoyed Clonmacnoisse. Are you staying in a castle for one of your nights? We enjoyed our 1 night at Ashford. We did the Sceptre tours fly, drive and Bed and breakfast package 10 years ago. When you drive it can be scary with the narrow roads and you don't make good time with the secondary roads...so don't try to see to much and be exhausted. Remember you won't have long hours of daylight like in the summer...but those March rates are better than summer rates!

Some photos of Killarney, Loop Head, Aran Islands and a wet Connemarra (as well as Dingle which you'll miss) if that helps.

http://ukfrey.blogspot.com/2011/08/ireland.html

Thanks for your tips. We're going in March so I think the Aran Islands might be a little chilly this time around; maybe we'll save them for a summer trip. Admission to the Cliffs of Moher are included in our fly-drive package, which takes us to hotels, not B&Bs.

The Waterford factory apparently has reopened, but I'm not sure that tour is worth the drive to Waterford.

Thanks for reminding me to find out when sunset is so we're not surprised! And thanks for the lovely pictures. Any more tips?

According to several guide books I have been reading in prep for our upcoming time in Ireland, the old Waterford Crystal plant closed in 2009 due to declining business with their high end products. However, the company was purchased by an American firm, and while most of the product is produced in Asia and Eastern Europe, Waterford has a small and very efficient factory open for tours. This factory, with the "finest" glass craftsmen, create "prestige pieces" for special-order customers. They have daily tours, and their web site


:http://www.waterfordvisitorcentre.com/



For our plans, while Waterford seems unexciting and could be passed by, we are interested in the factory and will probably go to see it, basing somewhere else nearby.